districts was attested by the fine trees and tall bracken which usually covered them. These are now giving way to the cultivated grasses of the settlers. The deep, richly clothed gorges cut by the rivers of these districts supply the most romantic river scenery of the islands, notably in the valleys of the Wanganui and the Mokau. North of lat. 38° the island narrows into a long peninsula, indented again and again, and well nigh cut in twain where the Waitemata (the harbor of Auckland) almost meets the Manukau. In this northern division the climate of the east coast differs little from that of the west, for there is no central spine; save on the hills, frost is rare; north of the 38th parallel, indeed, the mangrove fringes the shores and palms, olives, oranges, guavas and the cane-break flourish. Here is the home of the giant Kauri pine and here are the swamps and hillsides from which is dug the fossil resin, the kauri gum of commerce. The ocean is too near at hand and too cool for the northern peninsula to be oppressively hot, and, were its soil everywhere fertile, it might be more thickly settled than any other province. Unluckily its strips and spots of rich alluvium are surrounded by larger tracts of stiff clay-marl, only productive after intense and skilful culti vation. In New Zealand it is the western coast which is the wetter, milder, more luxuriant clothed side. On the eastern, large tracts were found by the whites, quite treeless and clothed with coarse tussock grass. Here pastoral settlement made a beginning, spreading rapidly into the central ranges, to be checked in the South Island by the forests of the saturated west. In the North Island the climatic distinction is less marked and there the grazier flourishes in the west, after the native vegetation has been burned away. Rivers. Most of the very numerous rivers show the characteristics of mountain torrents, the rapidity and the cold, pure water running low in summer and disturbed by sudden turbid floods. It says much for the rainfall that very few streams run dry at any time. The volume of water in many is remarkable, notably in the chief river of the South Island, the Clutha, which, despite its strength, is but 154 miles long. In the north, the Waikato is the longest stream in the colony, and that, and four or five others (in the Auckland and Wellington provinces), are navigable by small steamers. Generally the rivers hinder rather than help traffic, though their swiftness and number make them very valuable in furnishing power for machinery. Climate. The yearly rainfall varies from 26 inches on the littoral of Canterbury, to 170 inches among the sounds of the southwest. Throughout the settled districts the average is about 35 inches on the eastern and 60 inches on the western side. The brisk sea winds keep the sky normally clear and the amount of sunshine registered is large, except in the southwest and immediately inland of Mount Egmont. In a country stretching through 13 degrees of latitude the climate naturally is very varied, but generally is very healthful. In the northern peninsula of North Island the conditions are semi-tropical, while in the high lands of Otago and Southland the frosts in winter are very severe and the summer bracing and temperate. In Wellington, which may be taken as the centre of the country, the temperature scarcely ever falls more than one or two degrees below freezing point; while in Auckland, the most northerly of the large cities, the heat is tempered by sea breezes and never reaches the intensity which makes life in summer so trying in the great Australian cities. Rapid changes of temperature are caused by sudden shiftings of wind and are somewhat trying to new arrivals in the country. Geology and Mineralogy. To the geologist the two large islands are a continuity, and form the remnant of a continent which once extended eastward and was probably connected with South America. A great leading range of Palæozoic rocks stretches through both islands, branching out in the south to enclose the extensive schistose area of central Otago. Upper Mesozoic formations have also enormous development; and in the North Island their outcrops are distinguishable through the volcanic deposits which cover a good part of the surface. In this island are also extensive areas of hydrothermal agency, marking the expiring activity of volcanic outbursts. So late as 1886 there was a violent eruption of Mount Tarawera in the Hot Lake district, during which the celebrated Pink and White Terraces of world-wide fame as natural wonders disappeared; it was previously supposed to be an extinct volcano; Mount Tongariro and Ngaruhoe, in the heart of the island, also are still active. Sedimentary rocks, chiefly of gray sandstone, are often seen, both among the ridges of the interior, and on the coast, where they frequently form precipitous cliffs, but the far greater part of the rocks are crystalline. Among a great variety of fossils the most notable are those of a gigantic bird, the moa (Dinornis giganteus), which survived down to recent times. New Zealand is extremely rich in mineral deposits, and gold mining forms one of its staple industries. Gold was first discovered in 1853, and the total value of the output to the end of 1916 was $429,238,375. The great gold producing regions are the Thames district of Auckland, the west coast of the South Island and the interior of Otago. During the last few years the method of raising gold by dredging the beds of rivers has developed to a remarkable extent. The extensive coal measures are also a source of wealth. Among many varieties the best is the bituminous coal of the west coast of the South Island, which is equal in quality to that found in any part of the world. The output has been steadily increasing, and for 1916 amounted to 2,257,135 tons valued at $6,455,145. Copper, chrome ore, manganese ore, sulphur and other minerals have been worked with varying success. Working miners make good wages, and there is a good deal of independent prospecting. Mining schools have been established in different parts of the colony, and the study of mineralogy is pursued with considerable zeal. Flora, Fauna, etc.-Among vegetable productions the most characteristic are the ferns (130 different species), which forms almost the only vegetation over immense districts. Some of them are more than 40 feet high, and remarkable for the elegance of their forms. The A flax plant furnishes an article of export. number of the forest trees furnish valuable timber, among them the rare kauri or damar pine. Flowering plants are remarkably scarce, save in the Alps, and there are no indigenous fruits. In animals New Zealand is singularly deficient, only a sort of dog, now extinct like the moa, a rat and two species of bats being indigenous. Rabbits have been introduced and have multiplied so as to become a perfect pest; pigs now run wild, as well as cats. Pheasants, partridges, quails and red and fallow deer have been successfully introduced, also the brown and rainbow trout. All the common European quadrupeds appear to be easily acclimated. Pigeons and parrots are the most common native birds. Among others are the apteryx (a wingless bird), the huia, the tui, or parson-bird, and the owl-parrot. The chief reptiles are a few lizards. The coast waters teem with fish, and seals are still numerous in some parts. Population. The population is now about 1,162,293, or over 11 to the square mile. It is still very scanty in the western half of the South Island; in the interior of the North Island between lat. 40° and 38°; in the great shoulder between Hawke's Bay and the Bay of Plenty; and in the far north of the Auckland Peninsula. Elsewhere it is steadily spreading 100 females were enumerated in 1916. The increase by excess of births over deaths is satisfactory. This is mainly due to the extraordinarily low death-rate which, contrary to predictions, does not rise, and remains the lowest of any civilized country. In 1916 the deathrate stood at 9.64 in the thousand, as compared with a birth-rate of 25.94. The excess rate in favor of life takes a high place in the tables of international vital statistics. During the 12 years 1880-92, the birth-rate fell rapidly from 40.78 to 27.83. The fall then grew much slower, though it continued until 1899, when the rate stood at 25.12. Since then it has gradually recovered. The proportion of children to each marriage is now about 3.14 as against 5.01 in 1885. The marriage-rate was 7.47 in 1916. The percentage of illegitimate births was 4.01. There can be no doubt that the decline in the birthrate was almost entirely due to the deliberate limitation of families by potential parents. It is believed that the Maori tribes mustered about 65,000 at the time of annexation. Their decrease since has been mainly due to the prevalence among them of tuberculosis and venereal diseases. The movement of the white population in three recent years is given in the following table: * Exclusive of expeditionary force. over the land up to a height of about 1,500 feet above sea-level. The advance, however, has never been rapid. The warlike native tribes, from whom land has had to be acquired by tedious purchase, have not been the only obstacle. To the difficulties of the stiff clay-marl and pumice soils must be added the denseness of the forest, the oft-recurring hill and mountain barriers and the innumerable ravines and swift torrents, making roads and bridges very costly. Furthermore, a small archipelago placed in the southern ocean to be a lonely outpast of civilization does not attract any full stream of immigrants from Europe. So 21 years after annexation the white population had reached but 99,021. In 1881 it had attained to 489,923. In 1891 it was but 626,658. The colored population of 49,776 was stationary for many years but a slight increase has been observed recently. The Maori and Polynesians do not as a rule increase. The Chinese, who in 1881 numbered 5,000, have been reduced to 2,500 by exclusion laws-modified copies of those of the United States. The official census of March 1901 returned a population of 815,862 persons, or, excluding Maori and Polynesians, 772,719. The latter number had risen by 15 Oct. 1916 to 1,099,449, an increase of 7.3 per cent per annum from 1901. Of this population 551,775 were males and 547,674 were females. An excess of males over females is also found among the Maori, while among the Chinese less than With a Between 1870 and 1885 the gain by immigration was relatively large; but in the seven years, 1885-91, the colony actually lost 20,000 people, mainly to Australia. There has been a gain since 1892, coming mostly from Australia, and the remainder from Great Britain. The government encourages certain classes of emigrants, notably farmers, farm laborers, domestic servants and navvies, by paying part of their passage money. Exclusion laws have been passed to shut out criminals, prostitutes, lunatics, aged paupers and the diseased or crippled. view to restricting Asiatic immigration the New Zealand Parliament in 1907 passed an act which requires that any Chinese proposing to land in the dominion shall be able to read a printed passage of not less than 100 words of the English language. Persons of other than European descent are classified in the immigration returns as "race aliens" and have to pass an education test before admission. In addition to the landing tax of £100 on Chinese the government has the right to subject non-British incomers to a language test. Apart from those relating to Chinese and disease it cannot be said that all the restrictive regulations are stringently enforced. The colony relies mainly on its distance from large centres, the cost of the voyage to it and the smallness of its quiet towns. It offers few attractions to active criminals, and is too remote for paupers. The proportion of females to every 100 males in New Zealand was 70.52 per cent in 1871; 88.26 in 1891; 90.33 in 1901 and 99.2 per cent in 1916. In 1911 the total Protestants numbered 808,801; Roman Catholics, 140,523; Jews, 2,128; Pagans, 1,501 and 35,905 who objected to state their religion. Of the white foreigners, by birth or descent, a considerable majority are of Teutonic or Scandinavian blood. New Zealand in recent years has received increasing numbers of Irish settlers. These now equal in number those of Scottish descent. The increasing democratization and the break up of industrial feudalism in New Zealand is in no small measure due to these settlers imbued with Republican sentiments from their earliest years. Chief Towns.- New Zealand is a decentralized country. Its main centres of population are the four towns of Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington. Of these Auckland is the largest as it is the most beautiful, while Wellington, the political capital, is overhauling its rival. No other first-rate harbor is found on the North Island within 500 miles of the capital. It is the financial and banking centre of the islands and the rapid expansion of its sea-trade suggests that it may yet challenge Auckland's leadership. Auckland taps the grazing and dairying valley of the Waikato, the quartz goldfields of the Thames, Coromandel and Waihi, and conducts a trade with the South Seas as well as with Australia. Christchurch is the market-town of the chief agricultural district, and is something of a manufacturing as well as an educational centre: POPULATION OF CHIEF CITIES. The other towns are roomy and comfortable enough, with well-planted, neatly-kept suburbs and spacious recreation grounds. There are no sky-scrapers and no slums. Wood is still the chief material in dwelling-houses, and the ratio of inhabitants to each house is 4.82. Industries Agriculture. The founders of New Zealand looked forward to making it an agricultural settlement and it remains mainly devoted to grazing and mining. The deliberate state encouragement of small as against very large holdings of land has not substituted tillage for grazing. The small farmer is a dairyman more often than not, or he owns a few hundred sheep and develops mixed farming. Two-thirds of the surface of New Zealand are suitable for agriculture and grazing. About 17,000,000 acres are still under forest. The total area under crop (including 14,734,989 acres in sown grasses and 84,649 in fallow) in 1917 was 16,841,575 acres. The total area of land under occupation in the same year was 29,404,291 acres. The area of Crown lands surveyed and open for settlement on 1 April 1917 was 967,566 acres. In South Island are a great number of the larger freehold estates. The size and number of occupied holdings according to recent statistics are as follows: 133,172 95.235 50,001 and over 92,733 68,716 Total..... 19,517 17,862 15,131 Palmerston North. Timarn.. Gesborne. Nelson.. New Plymouth. 14,006 13,716 12.660 9,962 9.795 Christchurch lies inland, about five miles from its seaport, Lyttelton. The other three towns are seaports though most of the shipping trade of Dunedin is done by Port Chalmers, seven miles from the city, and outside its ring of suburbs. Wellington, close packed between steep hills and sea-shore, is already complaining of congestion, high rents and the lack of garden-space. There are about 128,000 persons, including 30,000 females, engaged in agricultural, pastoral and dairying pursuits. The acreage and produce of the principal crops are as follows (see table below): It was the fall in the price of cereals followed by the discovery of the use of refrigeration applied to the transport of food products which turned New Zealand farmers from cereals to meat, butter and cheese. They found that cultivated grasses,- cocks foot, timothy, clover, rye-grass would grow admirably in the islands, carrying and fattening far more stock than the native pastures. They began the process of laying down land in cultivated |